Government-funded Fisker misses key electric-car goals
By Chris Woodyard,
USA TODAY
Oct 22, 2011
content.usatoday.com
The Fisker Karma, a plug-in hybrid car, took to the streets of Monterey, Calif., two years ago CAPTIONBy Chris Woodyard, USA TODAYFisker, the startup that received a $529 million federal loan to make a plug-in extended-range electric car, has missed early manufacturing goals and has gradually pushed back plans for U.S. production of its next model by a year, the Washington Post reports.
Fisker just pushed back introduction of the model for which it received the bulk of a loan by a year to 2013. Also this week, Fisker found out that its first model, the $96,000 Karma made in Finland, which is two years late in reaching U.S. markets, won't go 50 miles on electricity alone as promised, the Post says.
The Energy Department yesterday clarified that that $169 million of the loan went to develop the Karma, shown in the photo above, even though it isn't being produced in the U.S.
The Energy Department, which made the loan, sounds like it's going to cut Fisker some slack. Says the Post: "It has eased expectations after conditionally approving the loan to Fisker and has made allowances for scaling back projections in the final loan agreement. But the agency declined to make public those adjusted terms, including projected car sales volume or milestones the company must meet in connection with its $529 million loan."
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